College Coaches Seek Bcs System Changes

They Proposed A Fifth Bcs Bowl And An Automatic Bid For The Top Team In Their Poll.

January 8, 2004|By Charles Robinson, Sentinel Staff Writer

If college football coaches have their way, next season's No. 1 team in the USA Today/ESPN poll will get an automatic berth in the Bowl Championship Series national championship game.

That is one of the major changes the American Football Coaches Association will seek from the NCAA this off-season, along with a fifth BCS game to accommodate highly ranked mid-majors not belonging to the six conferences in the BCS.

More than 70 coaches met at the end of the AFCA convention here to vote on proposals to the BCS administrators. A large part of the weeklong annual convention -- which wrapped up Wednesday and was open to high school, junior college, college and pro coaches -- was spent discussing BCS flaws that led to a split national championship between Louisiana State and USC.

One of the more interesting developments was the unanimous rejection of a playoff system or adding a "plus one" game to the bowls to resolve split national championships. Both postseason avenues were ruled out because many in the AFCA said they believed it would put athletes at undue physical risk and jeopardize the bowl system. During a discussion about those topics, Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel -- who previously coached Youngstown State in the Division I-AA playoffs -- told coaches about an injury sustained by one of his top players during the playoffs as an example of the postseason dangers.

Rather than go the route of more games and a playoff system, the AFCA took a stance that would ask the NCAA to automatically put the top team in the USA Today/ESPN poll into the BCS title game. USC finished the season No. 1 in the coaches' poll this year but was not invited to the national championship game because it finished third in the BCS points standings. Under the new system, USC would have played Oklahoma in the title game because LSU finished second in both the BCS poll and USA Today/ESPN poll.

Although surprised by news of the coaches' decision Wednesday, Florida Citrus Sports Executive Director Tom Mickle was happy with it. He has been a proponent of adding a fifth bowl to the BCS, primarily because he would like Orlando's Capital One Bowl to be part of the BCS.

"We believe there's a place for a fifth bowl,''' Mickle said. "There's interest and it adds value to the current system. And there are ways to preserve good parts of the BCS such as keeping the traditions like the Rose Bowl.''

The reasoning for the changes stemmed from the twisted path the coaches were forced to take in the final weeks this season. College coaches voted USC as their No. 1 team before the bowls, but the Trojans weren't invited to the Sugar Bowl, the BCS title game. After the Sugar Bowl, the coaches were contractually obligated to vote the winner of the game -- LSU -- No. 1 in their final poll. This despite USC following its No. 1 ranking with a big win over Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

Under the proposed system, the BCS title game winner would be a national champ. But coaches no longer would have to vote against their conscience.